Murder-suicide of B.C. autistic teen by his mother reignites debate over caregiver support

The murder-suicide of an autistic British Columbia teenager and his mother — who said she was unable to care for him — has reignited the debate over support for caregivers and the right of the disabled to shape their own destinies.

When Angie Robinson killed her 16-year-old son Robert and then herself this month, she left a suicide note saying he had become unmanageable. The teen had grown too large and was violent against himself. Meanwhile, the resources available in her Prince Rupert community were inadequate.

“Angie loved him more than anything on Earth,” relative Ron Watson said. “The shock for us was that she took his life.”

The disabled belong in society, no matter how severe their challenges, disability rights advocates say.

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Killing a person, in part, because their care has become too much “subjugates their right to life through the opinion and judgment of the caregiver,” said Jim Derksen, a longtime Canadian disability rights advocate and past chairman of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities.

“People are vulnerable, but this is a very narrow vision of the potentialities around them. We should really come to the aid of people who are heading in that direction.”

Others expressed concern coverage of the tragedy has been too sympathetic to Ms. Robinson, inadvertently casting blame on the 16-year-old.

How is it OK to learn that a child has been murdered by their parent and then feel sorry for the murderer?

She was responding to news of other autism-related murders that had grabbed headlines in April, which is designated Autism Awareness Month. The coverage, she said, seems to perpetuate the stigma that people with autism are violent and dangerous.

“Are you happy to let Robert Robinson’s death be blamed on him being autistic?” she asked. “Are you happy to be part of the continued stigmatization?”

Autism advocates blame the lack of support for the enormous pressures on parents.

Cases of autism have risen sharply in recent years, outpacing resources, which “do not have the capacity to grow at that same rate,” said Debbie Irish, chief executive officer of the Geneva Centre for Autism in Toronto.

The Canadian Autism Spectrum Disorders Alliance plans to wrap its national needs assessment project by the end of June, she said, a process that will help pinpoint communities in which support could be improved.

“I think that we continue as a service sector to advocate for supports for families and that we continue to work together to come up with collaborative solutions for families so that they’re not faced by this,” she said.

“No family should be in this situation.”

At age 16, Robert was likely about to move into the care of adult services, said Esther Rhee, national program director at Autism Speaks Canada.

He would have been difficult to care for due to his size — he weighed about 270 lb and at more than six feet tall towered over his petite mother, who weighed 100 lb, the family said.

He was also prone to physical expressions of frustration. He had been head-butting walls and people, and pushing and punching Ms. Robinson.

“There’s a saying that’s commonly used in the community: ‘If one person in a family has autism, the whole family has autism,’ ” Ms. Rhee said, in reference to the way an autism diagnosis impacts each family member differently.

“I don’t know enough about [the mother’s] personal situation, clearly she was dealing with safety concerns, possibly mental health issues associated there. It can be very isolating. There’s a lot of guilt that can happen, and shame related to this type of situation where if a parent feels they can’t provide adequate care, it creates a huge toll in terms of their role as a care provider and what they can do for the family.”

Autism advocates are also sensitive to even a loose associations with mercy killings. That’s because autism is not a terminal disease, but rather a spectrum of complex brain development disorders, said Carrie Habert, Autism Speaks Canada marketing director.

Robinson family members say they are not looking to place “blame,” but rather seek to see more and better services for families like theirs.

At 11:56 a.m. on April 2, Ms. Robinson wrote a last Facebook post: “More, more, more needs to be done for our teens with special needs, they are neglected … Canada needs more residential and respite care for families hoping to keep their children at home.”